Free Republic

In his final report, released this month, on how $63 billion of American taxpayers’ money was spent in reconstructing Iraq after the end of the Iraq war, Special Inspector General Stuart Bowen asked two questions: “What happened to the money?” and “What effect did it have?” The next 185 pages of his report reviews where it went, how much was wasted, and what effect it had in restoring Iraq’s infrastructure so that life there could return to some sort of normal. The answer to the first question, “what happened to the money?” is that much of it was wasted. He...

The Iraqi Ministry of Oil (MoO) formally signed a joint venture agreement with Shell, the South Gas Company (SGC), an affiliate of MoO, and Mitsubishi Corporation (MC) on an initiative to capture associated gas in South Iraq. MC made an agreement with Shell to take a 5% interest in the project in August 2009. Following the Iraq government approval made on 15th November this year, SGC, Shell and MC have signed agreements associated with the project. These agreements create the Basrah Gas Company (BGC) Joint Venture, made up of Iraq's SGC (51%), Shell (44%) and MC (5%). Some 700 million...

WASHINGTON, July 22, 2009 – Construction efforts took center stage in Mosul, Iraq, recently as U.S. soldiers built a new combat outpost and took on a new renovation mission, military officials reported. Soldiers of the 643rd Engineer Company are nearing completion of Combat Outpost India in Iraq’s northern province of Ninevah. They started the project in mid-June. The outpost is slated to be used as a training site for local Iraqi security forces, said Army Capt. Joshua A. Long, technical headquarters officer in charge for Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 130th Engineer Brigade. The outpost also will make areas north of...

A hilltop view of the ancient city of Babylon, where King Nebuchadnezzar II, whose life spanned 630-562 B.C., built his hanging gardens, one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Photo by Maj. Mike Feeney, 172nd Infantry Brigade. HILLAH — Soldiers of the 172nd Infantry Brigade are enabling documentarians, historians and preservationists as they work to ensure ancient Iraqi history is preserved and documented in Babil province. The Soldiers provide these experts transportation and security as they conduct site surveys of Babylon, an ancient city near the modern city of HillahThe Babil Provincial Reconstruction Team hosted the World Monuments Fund...

OUR effort in Iraq passed a major milestone today: Our troops are leaving the cities. Advisers remain in place. Joint patrols will still occur. And our forces will wait nearby to respond to Iraqi calls for support. But the last of the bases and US-only outposts within Iraq's urban centers will be vacated. Terrorists have already begun testing the new security arrangements. Iraqi forces won't always pass with flying colors. Yet this situation seemed a pipe dream not so long ago: Iraq's security forces, serving an elected government, assume primary responsibility for the good order of their own country. We...

Regular readers of this weblog and my books know that Bible prophecy says the ancient city of Babylon, Iraq will be rebuilt and become the greatest center of wealth, commerce and power in the “last days” of history. The books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Revelation are explicit on this subject. Skeptics and cynics abound, to be sure, but the fact is Babylon is being rebuilt right now, in part with U.S. taxpayer funds. Iraqi leaders hope that eventually millions of tourists will come to visit, and real progress is being made. Consider today’s edition of Stars & Stripes, a...

Iraqi Member of Parliament Safiya Talib al-Suhail was keynote speaker at an Iraqi women's business seminar June 20 in Baghdad. Al-Suhail has a long history of promoting the rights and status of Iraqi women. USACE Photo by Rick Haverinen. BAGHDAD — Sustainment contracting was the focus of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Gulf Region Division (GRD)-sponsored women's business seminar here, June 20, as 35 Iraqi businesswomen attended this half-day event, part of a continuing series of meetings for the Women's Advocate Initiative. "Our goal is to encourage and support Iraqi businesswomen to be more involved in the execution and...

CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE ADDER, Iraq, June 15, 2009 – Just a short bus trip from work and in a well-secured area here, soldiers of 1st Armored Division’s 4th Brigade Combat Team can be seen on any given day shopping in the Iraqi-based industrial zone. Army Spc. Jerrod Quinn and Army Spc. Jill Grey browse an electronics counter at the Oasis market on Contingency Operating Base Adder, Iraq, June 10, 2009. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Mark Miranda  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Industrial zone locations are designated secure areas on coalition bases where a commercial business with a...

Capt. Michelle Sterling goes over demolition plans with her team members while one of the three villas once belonging to bath party members is being demolished to make room for a new foreign embassy. Photo by Staff Sgt. Tim Beckham, Baghdad Media Outreach Team. BAGHDAD — It has been said that those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. But a group of Iraqi contractors, with the help of a U.S. Airman, are taking a different approach. They are burying the past to rebuild a new future.The past, in this case, are three villas located here in...

An Iraqi screener searches a local national before entering Joint Base Balad, April 1. Photo by Tech. Sgt. Lionel Castellano, 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing. JOINT BASE BALAD — More than 100 Iraqis were recently contracted to secure the outer perimeter of this base to help protect the men and women serving here. “This contract is a first of its kind,” said Lt. Col. Raymond Reyes, Joint Base Balad (JBB) Regional Contracting Center commander. “Putting a requirement to employ 80 percent of the contractor’s workforce from the local area is an innovative contracting solution to implementing the Joint Campaign Plan.“This is...

Things are looking brighter in Iraq, according to a recently released poll of Iraqis conducted at the end of February. The poll was sponsored by ABC, the BBC and Japan’s NHK. Asked how well things were going for them in their life, 65 percent of Iraqi respondents said things were going well for them. This is compared to 55 percent of Iraqis responding in a similar manner in February 2008 and just 39 percent saying life was going well for them in August 2007. On a personal level, Iraqis seem optimistic about their futures. Fifty-six percent of Iraqis believe that...

CAMP VICTORY, Iraq, March 26, 2009 – A dedicated group of servicemembers is helping to restore the Scouting movement in Iraq, one child at a time. Five-year-old Mariem looks to Army Maj. Gary Farley for assurance as she assembles the wheelbase for a model plane at Camp Victory, Iraq, March 21, 2009. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Ron Burke  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. When Iraq embraced the program in 1921, its Boy Scout and Girl Guide program became a member of the World Organization Scouting Movement. However, due to war and instability, it has been...

KIRKUK, Iraq, March 2, 2009 – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is part of a joint, multinational effort to provide solutions for city officials here on what to do with the 900 tons of trash Kirkuk residents generate daily. A truck offloads trash at Solid Waste Transfer Station 1, south of Kirkuk, Iraq. The $2.5 million facility has the capacity to handle 300 tons of waste per day. U.S. Army photo   (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. For years, Kirkuk residents have been dumping their garbage into unregulated areas or merely unloading it in open fields outside...

U.S. To Help Rebuild City Of Babylon In Iraq By Joel C. Rosenberg Largely overlooked by the Western news media over the past few weeks was an enormously significant story. The government of Iraq is moving forward with plans to protect the archaeological remains of the ancient City of Babylon, in preparation for building a modern city of Babylon. The project, originally started by the late Saddam Hussein, is aimed eventually at attracting scores of "cultural tourists" from all over the world to see the glories of Mesopotamia's most famous city. What's more, the Obama Administration is contributing $700,000 towards...

Beirut (ENI) -- A group of Christians meeting in Lebanon have declared that people of their faith have belonged to Iraq since the nation's birth and that they are not just a minority but an essential part of Iraqi society and deeply rooted in its history and civilisation. "As authentic children of this land, they have the right to live freely in it and enjoy equal rights and responsibilities along with all other citizens," the 12 Iraqi church leaders said after their meeting on 10 and 11 February in Dar Sayedat Al Jabal, Fatka in Lebanon. "The solution to current...

FORWARD OPERATING BASE DELTA, Iraq, Feb. 10, 2009 – Historically in Iraqi culture, police and judges didn’t work with each other to solve cases. That is beginning to change as the nascent police investigative branch in Iraq’s Wasit province is working hand-in-hand with the province’s investigative judges. Art Oates, a law enforcement professional from Houston, teaches soldiers how to enter data into handheld identity detection equipment. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Joe Thompson  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. “Our relationship with the Iraqi police is good,” said the chief judge in Hayy, Iraq, whose name is...

CAMP VICTORY, Iraq, Feb. 2, 2009 – As the Iraqi security forces continue to improve their ability to protect Iraq’s people, a strong judicial branch that can help bring criminals to justice becomes increasingly important. “I think the [Iraqi legal system] is improving,” Army Capt. Ronald Alcala, Multinational Division Center’s rule of law chief, said. Coalition forces have had a huge impact by helping to professionalize the Iraqi forces and providing training on crime-scene management and investigative procedures, he added. The Iraqi legal system places more of an emphasis on testimonial evidence, usually from two or more witnesses, and less...

Economic development in Iraq in 2008 has been "encouraging" according to a review of the country's economy by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Improved security and a more stable political environment mean economic activity has "picked up" on the back of increased oil production and exports. IMF deputy managing director Takatoshi Kato said the authorities had kept the economic programme "on track". Oil revenue in 2009 would be much lower than in 2008, he added. To compensate, the Iraqi government has already prepared measures to reduce spending next year.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 15, 2008 – With fewer than 40 days left in office, President George W. Bush signed a security pact in Baghdad yesterday, putting an end in sight for the Iraq war after nearly six years of fighting. “The war is not over yet,” Bush said, “[but] it is decisively on its way to being won.” During a surprise farewell visit to Baghdad yesterday, Bush met with Iraq Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki for a signing ceremony, affirming the two landmark agreements to withdraw U.S. troops and formalizing a long-term relationship between the two countries. “[The agreements] cement a...

Basrah, Iraq — Hundreds of Iraqis in al-Tanoma city in east Basra will soon have access to a modern sports club where they can host and watch sporting events. The project by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is designed to provide a safe haven for youth to play, practice and develop their skills. “The rehabilitation work for the four decades old facility is an important step to meeting the needs of Basra’s next generation of athletes,” said Lateef Khlaf, the sports club administrator. “As you know, the Iraqi people love sports like soccer and basketball. They will be very...